Chicago, IL (PressExposure) August 13, 2009 -- The Art Institute of Chicago has become the first art museum in the world to utilize interactive floor plans by MapsAlive to guide visitors through the facility and help them discover and locate artworks on display.

The new system was developed by AvantLogic, whose MapsAlive software is a leading interactive mapping application. MapsAlive provides the interactive mapping feature of Pathfinder, the museumâs new interactive wayfinding system that lets museum visitors and website users view floor plans to discover and locate artworks, see gallery panoramas, find exhibitions and daily events, and locate amenities such as restaurants and shops. The mapping features are available both on the Instituteâs website at http://www.artic.edu/pathfinder/php/pathfinder.php, and throughout the museum on touch-screen kiosks.

MapsAlive is the core technology behind Pathfinder, a web application that helps visitors learn about the Art Instituteâs collections and navigate its many buildings and floors. With the opening of the Modern Wing in May 2009, the museum now has more than a million square feet of gallery space, making it the second largest art museum in the United States.

âYou can literally get lost in there,â said George Soules, president of AvantLogic. âBut with MapsAlive you can discover the countless art objects in this vast space by touching or clicking on the floor plans. You can also touch images of collections, artworks, or exhibitions that interest you, and MapsAlive will show you where they are located within the museum. MapsAlive will even draw a 3D route showing you how to get from where you are standing to where you want to go in the museum.â

The Pathfinder software was developed by AvantLogic, Slate Roof Studio which designed the graphical interface, and the Art Instituteâs information technology staff. The Art Institute required that the browser-based application be able to run on both the museum web site and on 30-inch touch screens located throughout the building. MapsAlive made it possible to achieve this goal.

âMapsAlive was the best solution to achieve our vision for this kind of application because it was already coded to do much of what we needed,â said Sam Quigley, museum Vice President for Collections Management, Imaging, and Information Technology. âInstead of building Pathfinder from the ground up, we harnessed and extended the existing development tools and were able to focus more time and energy on the user interface. The AvantLogic team was a pleasure to work with, and we couldnât have done this without them. They were exceptionally creative and responsive to our needs.â

Interactive museum applications are just one of the many ways to use MapsAlive. To learn more and experience MapsAlive, visit http://www.mapsalive.com.

About AvantLogic

AvantLogic is the creator of MapsAlive, a web application that can make any map interactive for use on web pages. A map can be any image such as a diagram, floor plan, photo, or geographic map. Interactive maps allow viewers to move their mouse over markers to quickly gather information and see images and text associated with locations on the map. MapsAlive is used to create interactive location maps, floor plans, and web content for real estate, travel and tourism, education, and law enforcement.

Based in Waitsfield, VT., AvantLogic was founded in 1999 as a software consulting company specializing in web applications, commercial grade software, and safety-critical computer systems. Clients include ABC Television, Bombardier, DaimlerChrysler and the New York Power Authority. AvantLogic launched MapsAlive in 2007, and is now focused on making MapsAlive the premier tool for creating online interactive map tours.